A TikTok star from Hawaii and an actor from Inverness are set to begin 2025 by getting married after love blossomed from opposite sides of the world.
Mary Fran Donnelly, a plus-size body positivity advocate, and Eddy Mackenzie, whose recent work includes appearing in the global cult horror film, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey II, will marry in Edinburgh on January 6.
Mary Fran (31), who has more than 1.1 million followers, and former Millburn Academy pupil Eddy (32) – the son of Inverness councillor Isabelle MacKenzie and her husband Donald – first met via an online dating site.
Although they got to know each other over the course of a year via video calls, they only met in person when Eddy travelled to Hawaii this summer.
Mary Fran is now visiting Scotland for the first time as the couple make the final preparations ahead of their wedding in between visiting family and friends in the Highlands.
“For me and him, this is such a dream come true,” said Mary Fran. “He is the absolute love of my life.”
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Inverness-raised actor Eddy Mackenzie and his wife-to-be, TikTok star Mary Fran Donnelly, wearing a shawl gifted by his aunties.
Mary Fran, a middle school social studies teacher, has achieved a global following for her body positivity posts, often sharing videos using humour to encompass travel, fashion and beauty.
One of her most famous clips, shining a spotlight on the obstacles faced by plus-size people while travelling, amassed more than 7.2 million views and attracted international media attention.
She has also documented the love story which evolved between her and Eddy, an actor, presenter, voice artist and musician with experience in a wide range of projects from TV to stage.
He embarked on his career after a teacher insisted he audition for the school pantomime, resulting in the previously shy schoolboy discovering a talent for producing a big gruff voice and performing.
Eddy, who was also diagnosed with dyspraxia – a disorder which can cause problems with attention, memory and time management as well as coordination – studied drama at Inverness College and also appeared at Eden Court Theatre in Starlight Musical Theatre’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
He landed the role of Piglet in Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey II – the sequel to the original film which was a global cult phenomenon, depicting the lovable children’s book characters, Pooh and Piglet, as feral and bloodthirsty murderers on the rampage.
He explained he and Mary Fran first discovered each other thanks to the “wonders of technology”.
He spotted her profile and description on a dating site and wanted to know more.
“She had such a smile on her face,” he recalled.
“There was such energy, colour and passion which exuded from her. It was a joyful profile. Her biography was fun. I was intrigued.”
Her initial question when they first talked confirmed their like-mindedness.
“She wanted to know, ‘ If we were in Jurassic Park, what skills would you have to help us survive?!’,” he said.
“It ticked a few buttons.”
Although it was to be another year before the pair met in person, they struck up a rapport and got to know each other via video calls, carefully timed to accommodate the time differences.
They finally came face to face at Honolulu Airport last summer when Eddy went to Hawaii to meet Mary Fran along with her family and friends and to get to know her homeland.
“We embraced and it was a wonderful moment – there was no awkwardness,” recalled Eddy.
“It was incredible.
“You might expect perhaps for there to be some awkwardness.
“But because we had spent a whole year getting to know each other deeply and learning how each other functioned, by the time we got together it felt like we had known each other so long.
“I think that foundation of getting to know each other was so powerful.
“It meant when we actually met, it was a complete breeze.”
Actor Eddy Mackenzie outside Eden Court Theatre in Inverness.
By the time he left Hawaii, they had decided to get married.
“There was no grand public proposal,” he said.
“It was really more of a practical conversation while driving to take care of some errands.
“We parked up and had decided we wanted to be together, so that meant getting married and one of us moving, and it was agreed!
“Then we went to Costco to celebrate with pizza!”
Mary Fran, who lives on her family’s four-acre farm, describes herself on Instagram as being an eating disorder and suicide survivor, stating: “Mental and emotional health has been a journey for me and I’m not ashamed about how those dark moments have led me to be the person I am today.”
She also likes to think of herself as a cool nerd and is a huge fan of Harry Potter, NASA/Space Exploration, Disney, Legos, historical fun facts and all types of other wacky things.
She explained she started posting on TikTok for a bit of mental health relief from the covid pandemic.
“I went on to get some comedic laughs and bring awareness about loving oneself and not to take life too seriously,” she said.
Explaining her attraction to Eddy, she said: “The thing I love most about Eddy is how authentic he is – how funny and confident and genuine and kind and how good a person he is to the core.
“I know he is a comedian and an actor – but he is also the loveliest person on the planet.
“I think over time, the thing that makes me most attracted to him is his heart and how he caring he is to the people around him.”
Just before Christmas, Mary Fran arrived in the Highlands to meet Eddy’s family and friends and see where he grew up as well as fitting in some sightseeing such as Loch Ness and Culloden Battlefield and visiting other parts of Scotland.
They have also been busy with preparations for their wedding which will be a small intimate ceremony for immediate family and a couple of friends in the library at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh.
Actor Eddy Mackenzie and TikTok star Mary Fran Donnelly with his mother, Inverness councillor Isabelle, and father, Donald.
After meeting his family, she said she was in awe of the love that surrounded her and Eddy while making her first trip to Scotland had been “absolutely incredible”.
“I think I am in a state of being constantly grateful,” she said.
“Scotland had always been on my bucket list of places I wanted to visit.”
To come to Inverness and see where Eddy was from and the space which made him along with his family was one of her core memories.
”I feel it is a dream to do this,” she reflected. “But to do it with the man I love and I will marry at the end of it is the prize I thought I would never win.”
The plan is for Eddy to move to Hawaii by early summer after he has completed work commitments and the paperwork enabling him to live and work there has been processed.
It will mean Mary Fran returning home initially without her husband after the wedding.
“I know it will be one of the most difficult things,” she said.
“But now we have a plan and I know what will be happening.
“We went a whole year without meeting. We can do five months.
“Eddy is my teammate, my partner, my best friend.
“We will get through this.”